newsprint as gift wrap

Being faced with the need for some gift wrap paper and unable to find anything that worked for me in my stash, no time to run out for some, left me with the only option of  figuring out an alternative.  Newsprint is definitely a staple of my studio, not only do I use it as spray sheets but it also comes in handy so often for other needs.  It was the perfect size, so I gathered, Dylusion Inks, Tim Holtz distress Inks, stamp pads and stamps, some brushes and stencils and set to play.  This will not only work as my gift wrap but will also work as a card background at some point.  I love newsprint but even more I love playing with the toys.  Have a wonderful day and move joyously into your weekend. Hugs

the gift is ready to go.

Happy Birthday Moose

A fun birthday card for a friend, we walk most every morning, we take in the morning light and changes in the local flora and fauna, we also discuss the state of our universe as seen on news feeds.  One thing that we laugh at are the "Breaking News" banners constantly displayed, it just seems so unnecessary, so the ridiculous was on my mind as I began putting the card together.  A singing moose in a castle court yard seemed to fit the bill.  Background is from a frame I purchased recently, cropped and filtered in photoshop, then printed out.  Moose element created using photoshop and Silhouette Cameo, banner also created using Cameo.  Hope your day is filled with the fun and ridiculous, hugs

A Tribute

This morning on my walk, I could not ignore the joy in the sky above me, then I thought that just maybe it was the joy of angels spilling over from Heaven as they welcomed and embraced Robin Williams.  That they felt the sadness of his passing from this earth and wanted us to know that they had received him and that there is peace and laughter in Heaven this morning.  He was one of my all time favorites, I caught an improv one night as he pieced together Shakespearean quotes in a magical, hysterical skit of pure genius, he stayed on my radar from then on and I was always excited to see his next project.  God Bless you and yours Robin.

Embrace Now

Monday morning is beginning, no sunrise yet but temps are perfect right now to get the house cooled down so windows and doors open to let it in.  August is giving us a break this week with temps in the low 90s, after two weeks of triple digits in July it is a blessing.  

Now that it appears I have a working system, FINALLY in place, I am incorporating some of the wonderful features from my fairly new printer, the old one would not print on an A2 card blank, this computer did not have a word processing software so I down loaded a free one and to my amazement it worked, lol.  Also on one of my early morning walks the sunlight was beautiful and there are portions of our older neighborhood where the road topping is cracked to the point of looking like a cobblestone, the light was perfect and I took a picture, whala my background for this card.  The leaves from another walk, here is a little tip, if you find a leaf you love but it is crinkled and dried but other wise perfect for what you want, take the leaf and place it in a bowl of water for about 6 or 8 hours, remove, dry off with a paper towel, pat gently and scan it in, then using your editing software turn it into an element.

Hope everyone has a peaceful, safe week, hugs

Beautiful

Some leaves I found on a walk and turned into elements, dodging triple digits has had me a little slow and this computer situation cinched the whole thing.  No promises, but I just may now have a solution in place with a newly shared 3 year old lap top, we will see.  Hope everyone has a great weekend, hugs

Nuts

Are these little stinkers cavorting in your backyards?  They are so darn funny, they look at you in challenge and glee, they hop, scamper and chatter.  I do love watching them play.  We should take lessons.  Hot hot hot here today, stay safe and cool, hugs

Summer Blooms

Happy Friday, I have a busy busy day here, temps predicted high, trying to get house cooled down before Sunrise.  Playing with my flower stamp image and decided to do this card using three colors, varying shades of orange/yellow, black and white.  It just seemed cool to me this morning.  I was really looking at the butterfly wings and decided they would make a neat photo corner.  I also like the uncharacteristic placement of the colored butterfly in the black and white flower.

Stay cool and safe, Hugs

Heaps of Blessings

Good Morning and a Happy Sunday.  I am counting my blessings this morning, to have wonderful neighbors is definitely one of my constant blessings, but to have neighbors with fabulous gardens and yards is one that just never stops giving.  You can see why I very rarely leave my house around here without my camera in tow.  When I got home and printed this bougainvillea out, I was intrigued with the flash back, the color is almost surreal, the entire plant just sparkles with color.  So I used it as a background and added a few Monarch butterflies, they just fit right in.
Hope everyone is safe and Happy today, Hugs

Summer Frolics

Tomorrow is the first day of summer, first day of Summer?  Did I go into a coma?  What happened to winter and spring?  I guess mostly it was the entire computer crash drama.  Still not completely over that entire issue but it is getting better.  I am adjusting to windows 7 and most of my little pesky issues are corrected, 1 or 2 more and we could almost call it normal.  A new flower today, it is in two sizes and the larger size is 3-D, don't have it down to a perfect science yet, but working on it, I am expanding my knowledge in point editing with my Silhouette and it is an amazing tool.  Stay cool, be safe and have a wonderful weekend. Hugs

7/4

Happy Thursday, one and all.  This is my July 4th card for my son, he has wanted to join the forces since he was 18, certain life choices, marriage, etc. have put this decision on the back burner and it has slowly worked its way to the fore front over the years, it has now become a decision due to his age (27) that he make up his mind, and he has pretty much moved to the decision of becoming a reservist.  Even if I, for perfectly selfish reasons do not want him to do this, as his mom I support him 100% in his decision.  There are a couple things I have asked him to consider as he moves forward and this card is a gentle reminder, even though I know it will be received with a raised eyebrow and a firm "Mom" uttered.  I am very proud of him.
I used my woven background, perfect with the blues, but even the more so with the weave of all the decision making and emotions involved. The flag with tag is a plant stick I created for a neighbor's patio table, it cried out to become an element before it was gifted. Hope all are safe and sound this week as we head into yet another week-end, Hugs

Every Day Magic

Every day magic has to be one of my favorite happenings.  I have been known to use some pretty quirky things in my studio, nothing is safe if the idea presents itself.  See that woven background?  I was watching TV an ad came on for a company named "Spider", you may have seen it also, a couple people are piecing together something from a shredder, then you realize a dad at work has shredded his daughters drawing, as he pins it to his bulletin board, they walk in, she flies into his arms and is delighted to see he has pinned it.  At that moment I had an idea, went into my husband's office and brought his shredder into my studio, the hardest thing about doing a woven background for me, is cutting the strips.  Not anymore, I just printed out on of my backgrounds and ran it through. I got 28 strips, I lined up 14 of them and attached them with a piece of packing tape to my table, then took the other 14 and began weaving.  I was only concerned with getting enough weave for a 5.5"X4.25" block to use on an A2 card.  With that done I scanned it in and cropped and printed it out.  I now have a new tool in my studio, love it.

I will be doing a lot more woven backgrounds.  Hope your Wednesday is filled with everyday Magic, hugs

Monarchs

One of my favorite butterflies with one of my favorite flowers.  The Monarch is endangered because of our world's use of pesticides, these fragile species travel thousands of miles in their lifetime to pollinate flowers and trees, it breaks my heart to think some day we may never see them again.

A new background today, it is the spray sheet from my play with raw pigments last week.  Have a fab Tuesday, hugs

Happy Father's Day t

I have come to understand, organizing is a constant endeavor for me, I tend to make a mess as I work, pulling out of an idea or project for me, is just not an option.  So I am always rearranging and reorganizing. The other day I was looking for some raw pigment and could not remember where I had last put it, finally I managed to unearth this treasure and put it aside to try out some ideas.  Raw pigment is just that, it is ground, powdered color, no binder, so if you add water to it and then brush it on your paper, when dried it will just brush off.  It is great stuff to work with because you are not backed into using it with a particular surface, you add your binder - water, alcohol, liquid polymer, etc, as dictated by the surface you are painting on.
For my Pussy Willows, I took a piece of 90lb watercolor paper, I put some of my raw pigment in an old, empty spice jar, sprinkled it onto my paper and then misted with water, I let it dry and then went in with brown ink and a pen and sketched in the pussy willows.  I let all that dry and then added in my little bit of sky with Copic Markers.  The last thing I do is spray the piece with a fixative especially for watercolors.  The hummingbird color was done with a copic base and intense ink pencils over.
Have a wonderful Day, Hugs

Delight

A lot of time this week in the garden, with tritple digits, the blooms demand my morning attention, talking and misting, and removing the blooms that just did not make it in the heat.  When I am not in my actual garden, I am inside with my alternative garden created with color, movement and joy.  I decided I wanted my hummer to have two wings, so here they are frolicking in the blooms.  Stay safe and cool my friends, Hugs

A Favorite

A card becomes a favorite for me when it consistently makes me smile.  I feel that these hummers capture the essence of pure joy.
Copic Markers, Intense Ink Pencils, PhotoShop6 and Silhouette Design Studio helped me to turn them into an element.
We head to triple digits again today, so wherever you are and whatever your temperature, have a good one. Hugs

Hummer Antics

A very dear friend has fallen in love with humming birds and I told her I would do one for her, as it began to take color and shape, I knew I wanted to add it to my previous card.  They are all a twitter in our neighborhood yards and when outside I break to watch them in their antics.  Colors are a copic marker base with intense ink pencils over.  Stay cool \they are predicting 106 for our area today, definitely an inside day, hugs

Happy Day

Johnny Jump-Ups and Pansies, delightful characters in our gardens and on my cards, I love the vibrant colors and perky petals.  I added just a strip of Chevrons to give the card some motion for the butterfly.  Card blank is Craft Cover Stock.  "Happy Day" rub-on is by "StampinUp".

We have a wonderful start to the day, house is all open before we begin the ascent to triple digits.  Happy Weekend everyone, hugs

Everyday magic

Good Morning and Happy Thursday.  I love everyday magic, what is "Everyday Magic"? Those serendipitous moments when an object is found and sparks a design idea.  I was shopping with a friend, we were walking out of the store and there on the ground was one of those keys you find on the bottom of a tin can in order to open it. I reached down picked it up and put it in my pocket.  It finally made it to my scanner, I was not sure it would yield a scan that would enable me to turn it into an element for my cards, but it did.  The background was painted with acrylic directly onto my card blank, I then added a corner pocket to tuck the tag into,  photo corners by EKSuccess, word from a Tim Holtz packet, heart is just a line drawing - color by Copic markers.

Embracing my imperfections is my learning ground, it is where I do my hardest work and it is what makes me stronger, it is what hones my faith.  Hugs

Flower Power

 Morning all, I am still not in sync with my blog postings but getting there.  Last week a neighbor let me capture a few photo images of his garden, not only wonderful flowers but some yummy veggies are growing there also.  I was fascinated with this yellow flower and decided I needed it in my stash of elements.  PhotoShop6, Silhouette Design Studio, Copic Markers were my supplies of choice.  It always seems to me as I pull a new element off the Cameo cutting mat that there must have been a bit of magic involved also.

, 

I keep meaning to look this flower up as it is not one I am familiar with but the bees and butterflies love it. Hope your weekend is filled with a little magic and that you stay safe, hugs

Muffin Up

Happy Monday morning, I hope all the moms had a Happy Mother's day.  A neighbor this weekend shared some muffins, not only were they healthy and delicious but they were also pretty.  I thought they would be fun to do a card with a Starbuck's money card tucked inside, so I went to work.  The background was done with a Tim Holtz stencil and some hand doodling.  The corners are EKSuccess.  The muffin image and word bar were created using PhotoShop6 and Silhouette Design Studio.  So "Muffin Up" and a good week to all, hugs

Puppy Love

Dogs, they melt your heart, greet you with enthusiasm and treat you as if you are the only person in the world on meeting.  This dog and I have history, he is a neighbors dog and when a pup, he jumped the fence and appeared at my front door, fearing he would get lost and knowing the neighbors were not at home I kept him in my kitchen for a day, that is when our love affair began.  So now when his human mom walks him and if I am outside, he will sit and park himself on my sidewalk and wait for me to come and love on him.  I had an opportunity to do a tiny, wee photo shoot of him last week and this shot captures all of his majesty.
Photoshop6, Silhouette Cameo and Copic markers helped to bring this card about, have a great day, hugs

Authentic

t

I love words, they are definitely on my top list of inspiration.  I can lallygag for a couple of days over a word, it draws images and colors for me.  They cause me to reflect and reach deep within.  I believe "Authenticity" is a blue print to my soul, it is reflected in my eyes and evident in the words I speak.  It is so easy in our world today to follow the in, striving for the latest in cars or fashion.  Being "true" to myself is not always easy but it does help me sleep better at night and allows me to focus in better on what is really important.
All new elements and colors on my card today, pushing the computer, scanner, printer and camera to their limits as I break-in this new system.  Feeling blessed and inspired.  Hope your week happy, safe and productive, hugs

go fish

 

It is Sunday and we are going fishing today, lol, well in card land anyway.  Pretty much generic with a male influence  The background is a woven piece I scanned in, I have started cutting and collecting 1/2" to 1" strips for more weavings, they really lend themselves to interesting backgrounds.  The fish is a Fred Mullet Stamp, I used photoshop6 and Silhouette to turn it into an element for this card.  The branch is also one of my images.  The font Sizzix "Wingo Zingo".  I am hoping for a fish dinner soon. Enjoy the rest of your weekend, Hugs

Yes, yes,yes

If you are thinking I am back up and running, you are  correct.  After almost two months without a computer, which by the way, is not something I want to go through again.  Even though it was an amazing journey of friendship and support.  A friend offered to see if he could extract and save my files on my crashed computer, thank goodness it was a "Mother Board" that crashed not my hard drive and he managed to retrieve and get it stored for me.  Another friend gave me an older laptop, which I figured would just make it possible for me to email and access the internet when I wanted, but after seeing it my friend then offered to look into the possibility of rebuilding the laptop to fit my needs.  The laptop operated under Windows XP, so I had to decide if I was going to go to Windows 7 or 8, I had to be able to load Photoshop6 and my Silhouette Studio Software and some other minor things, so he went to work to figure out if it would work.  About a week later he said if you want to

give it a go, the laptop will take it and you will have at least twice the power and space as before. This meant that I could possibly be up and running before I dared dreamed.  My primary concern then became the lack of usb ports and I began looking at hubs, one day while at a chain supply store I saw my dream Epson printer on an almost 1/2 off sale, I stored that away until I knew if the laptop would work. So to make a really long story short, I pretty much have the setup of my dreams.  My printer will take my heavy card stock and has the rear feeding dock that I wanted.   But none of this would have been possible without friendship and so much support from friends and for that I am so truly blessed.  I have been doing a lot of playing with shapes and doodling, everything has been hands on work because no computer.  The above card is a result of some of my play, I scanned in the polka dots on the left and the bar and printed that directly to my card blank, 110lb cover.  The decorative "tabs - yes"  were created with my Wacom and Photoshop, font is LD Inventive from Silhouette Library and photo corners are an  EKSuccess punch.

just be

A quirky little note card for Spring this morning, it has definitely sprung, almost 80degrees yesterday, windows open, all that fresh air went to my head, lol.  Card blank and inside inset, created using PhotoShop 6 and my Cameo.  A new spring butterfly for the right outside corners. "just be" is a Tim Holtz rub-on.

this shows off the inset inside, sorry about the blurry pics, light has changed in my studio with the time change and I have not gotten it down yet, lol.  Hope the rest of your Sunday is springy and bright, hugs

Embark

Happy Friday, and it is a good one here.  A dear friend had back surgery this week, over the last couple years she has been in a lot of pain and it has really put a kink in her very active life.  It was a great success, yippee and she will soon be zipping around like her old self.  So this card is to celebrate and cheer her on.
Copic markers and Tim Holtz distress inks.  Hope everyone has a great weekend, we will be having late spring temps here this weekend, great opportunity, to get the windows open and air out the house, hugs

Wild

I continue to work with my ideas on energy and movement in my cards.  I think I love the chevron because it is a wave pattern, waves equate life and energy.  Conscious or unconsciously waves surround our life.  I want my cards to be upbeat and happy, I want the receiver to feel the energy.  I took a photograph of a small flower grouping to PhotoShop and began erasing some of the pixels, so that the background looked like flowers being tossed in a breeze, I then distressed with Tim Holtz "Old Paper".  The font for wild is "LDDotty" from the Silhouette Library.
Hope your day is filled with wild and wonderful energy, hugs

Thinking of You

After I do my line drawings and decide it will work as an element, I take it to my Cameo and set it up and cut, I will cut three or four so that I have the option to do different color techniques.  I don't always color immediately after I cut them out, sometimes they will sit on my table for a week or more before I get to them. The cornflower was for a specific project so I colored it quickly and the spares were sitting on my table and this card came together.  I like just the line drawn flowers on the chevron background, bringing my color out in the bee, ribbon and little word block.  The chevrons and little fly lines under the bee give this card a sense of energy and movement, so the lack of color in the cornflowers work.

Here is the same card with photo corners added, the subtle difference is that instead of the background having rounded corners they are now squared off with the addition.  I also wanted directional photocorners so that the word "love" was in the correct reading position top and bottom.  I used a piece of index card, distressed with Tim Holtz distress inks, wrote "love" and then cut with the cameo.  I know, I know I have this thing for photo corners.  So here we are smack dab in the middle of the week, hope yours is progressing well, hugs.

Imagine always

Yesterday I was unfocused and restless, I think it was the time change, I finally sat down at my table and visited a field of cornflowers with big fat bumble bees flying around, well at least in my imagination.  Day dreaming for me, is a sure way to get focused and creative.
More and more PhotoShop6 and my Cameo are best friends with my drawing pens and Copic Markers. Background paper is from Paper Studio "Harper's Boutique".  Happy Tuesday, hugs

Hope and Silver Threads

I was thinking the other morning about Hope, Believe and Miracles.  I realized hope is the catalyst to believing in Miracles.  I do believe in Miracles, I hope your coming week is filled with them.
Hugs

Journey

Just some play with simple note cards.  Used an antique photo, Tim Holtz "Old Paper" distress ink and rub-ons.  Outlines were done with Copic markers and Micro pens.  I am distracted today by a perfect Spring going on outside, it is glorious.  Hope your day is just as pretty, hugs

Under the sea or is it?

Happy Friday everyone.  Well this underwater scene is one of those illusions of the eye working with the brain to make sense of something.  Yesterday while I was out it was hard not to notice the lush of everything around me, the flowers are in bloom, standing straight and tall with nourishment from the sun and all the rain and the trees are plump the bark unusually stretched with all the water they have taken in.  So whipped out the camera and took some bark pictures, when I printed this one out, Oh my goodness how much it looked like an underwater scene when turned sideways. So that is my background, it could really qualify as "Everyday Magic".   The Chinese symbol for "thanks" is a Hero Arts Stamp, stamped with Tim Holtz "Aged Mahogany" and then cut with my Cameo.  Have a great weekend, hugs

captured dreams

Have you captured any of your dreams yet this week?  Sometimes the dream cannot be captured in one fell swoop, sometimes the dream requires snippets from here and there and then needs some curing time.  It also needs for you to be specific about what it is from that dream you want or you just might end up with a nightmare, lol.  Most important, don't let the outside world tell you when the dream is complete, it is not complete until you say it is.  You're not a dreamer?  Sure you are, day dreams or night dreams, you spend 50% of your life dreaming, it's a statistic.  Hope you have wonderful Bold Dreams this week, hugs

More Creating with Everyday Magic

Every day magic isn't just in nature, it is anything that moves you.  As stated in the post below this, these little safety pins moved me this week.  I did a closed pin as well as the open one from yesterday.  Then I decided they would make a cute paper on this gelli-pull, so created the background paper using Photoshop6 and my Cameo.

Here is a little history for you too.  April 10, 1849, Walter Hunt (he did some other neat stuff also) received a patent for the spring safety pin.  I am sure that there were those out there 150+ years ago that thought these were magic.  Although the first pins are credited to the Myceaneans in 13th to 14th century, they were called fibulas and were mostly used with brooches.  What magic things are hanging around your table?  Hope lots and lots of magic, have a great week, hugs

You are pinned to my heart

Last weekend a neighbor had a garage sale, it is not a neighbor I know very well, they are relatively new to our neighborhood and very busy, but we started talking at the garage sale, most of the items they were selling were from her mother, they had just put her into assisted living in AZ and they were selling some of her things in order to raise money to get her in a living center in this area, so they could be with her more.  I found several things that would work for me and came home with arms loaded and heart warmed.  So many of my friends have family in assisted living and although they all do the best they can to be there, there is still the feeling by the family member in assisted living that they have been or will be forgotten.  I think that as we get older fear issues are not only real but contribute to stress and stress related illness.  So I digress a bit, I have been incorporating some of my found treasures into my studio, one is a table top organizer with a drawer, I was cleaning it this weekend and pulled out the drawer and there in the back was a collection of safety pins all joined together on a larger one.  For whatever the reason I was moved, the person was organized as she had fastened them all together and well, my imagination must have moved also, cause she just jumped right in and said "PLAY TIME".

So I created this card, all images and background are mine.  I think I will give one to my neighbor to send to her mom.  So as you travel through your week, keep in mind, someone you love may be feeling forgotten, so send them a card, hugs

Read

Good Morning everyone, from a wet and thankful Northern CA, oh how we need this rain.  My share this morning is proof positive, I will do anything to avoid the ritual of cleaning my studio table.  I barely have a 6"X6" square to work in, there are copic markers, scraps of paper, cuts from recent projects, you name it, it is stacked, covered and a mess.  So I woke this morning with full intention of gathering, putting away and cleaning up so that I am able to move on to next project.  I got up, brewed coffee and walked to table with mug in hand.  What happened next is what always happens when my table is cluttered, my imagination goes "oh boy, we are going to play, look at all that color, don't throw that scrap out it has wonderful lines." on and on, well you get the idea.  But, I do have options, I can just shut down the imagination in its' tracks but that makes the imagination rather cranky and my heart sad, I can reason from my left side to the right but that doesn't really work all that great, my left side usually gives up and shuts down or I can bargain, which is what I did this morning.  I told myself, you may make a bookmark, BUT, you cannot pull any items from of their area, you must use what you have on the table and then you will clean, ROFL.  So now I am off to clean my table top.  I wish you a lovely Friday, if it is raining or snowing where you are be safe, hugs

A Spider Playing in the House

Friendship is such a wonderful thing, I have one and we send articles, cards, little treasures back and forth through out the year, it truly makes a connection that lasts forever. She recently sent me copies of 4 poems she received in a retreat and thought I might enjoy them. One of them was by Rumi, a mentor I go to often for solace and or wisdom. It is one I had not read and was very moved by the powerful message. It so says something I feel more and more is my truth. I wanted to do a card that would tell her immediately my favorite and thank her, I also had a few things to tuck in besides.

I was especially intrigued by the title of this piece. I am always enchanted with the symbolism of words and also how they differ in different parts of our earth. Here are some for "Spider", which definitely will give you an idea of the title meaning. Spirit of creation, power, protection, fate, rebirth, just a small snippet of many. The poem is below if you are interested.

So as you venture nearer and nearer to the weekend, keep this in mind and "go mad", lol, hugs

A Spider Playing in the House

Conventional knowledge is death
to our souls, and it is not really ours.
We must become ignorant
of what we have been taught,
and be, instead, bewildered.

Run from what is profitable and comfortable.
If you drink those liqueurs, you will spill
the springwater of your real life.

Forget safety.
Live where you fear to live.
Destroy your reputation.
Be notorious.

I have tried prudent planning
long enough.  From now
on, I will be mad.

~Rumi

Everyday Magic

Yesterday I had some errands to run, I also had a 25% off entire purchase coupon for Michael's.  Since I was driving right by, I did that turn signal thing and pulled in.  Wow, Michael's has exploded with burlap and cork, it's every where, lol, not sure how long it has been available, I need to get out more.  I found these 4x4  canvases and thought they would make fun backgrounds and they do.  But that is really not what I am sharing  this morning.

"Create with everyday magic", what is everyday magic?  Okay, here is an example, you are leaving work, you have to pick up kids at daycare and you have to go to the grocery store, hmm, which first?  Grocery store first means more gas, a little longer jaunt, but kids in the grocery store make you crazy, as you are walking to the car you realize there is a glow in the air, pinks and oranges are bouncing off your car, NOW, this is the moment of everyday magic, do you stand there for a minute and really watch, can you determine where the orange begins and the pink stops?  Are there clouds, is the sky alive with birds enjoying the magic, or do you get in your car and drive off unaware that all of this magic has surrounded you?  Here is a little challenge, you don't have to post anything, you don't have to go out and purchase anything, just make the commitment to be aware of 1 thing each day that is everyday magic, then capture it, in a journal, on a card, in words, something that will stamp the moment in your consciousness, we all need more magic in our lives, hope your week is full of it, hugs

Home Sweet Home

Good Morning and a fine one it is here today.  Have you ever driven down a street or maybe on your own street, there is a house and you just know that it is not a happy house, inside or out.  The windows are dirty, the color is off and the yard is only tended to as a last resort, more weeds than grass. We have had a house on our street just like that, it has been that way for a quite a while and especially this last year as it went into foreclosure.  The "For Sale" went down the first of the year but nothing happened, then a couple of weeks ago, some contractor trucks showed up and it has been a flurry of activity ever since, sawing, hammering, men on the roof, then earlier this week a fresh coat of paint went on.  It's windows are shiny clean and the shrubs and bushes are getting a new haircut. It is almost a happy house, just needs some loving people to move in.
So this was my inspiration, I started playing with some of  my houses.  Background is from a sweet packet by Prima.  Houses were colored with Copic Markers, the skeleton key on the right is an old Quickutz die, some fun cloud photo corners.  I need to get our power spray out and give my little cottage a spring shower, our yard did get a mow this week, after all the showers and fair weather, it  was getting a bit deep.  Hope you have a great rest of your Sunday, hugs

Sweet Songs of Spring

Saturday, Saturday, a little play time.  Another onsie, the little music block is from the "Harper's Boutique" stack.  Our little chickie birds are all over the newly popped buds on the trees, tweetering and singing to each other, I was inspired.  I took liberty with its' color, they are mostly brown, I love how full their little bellies are as they have gorged.  All colors are Copic markers except for background on onsie is gesso and the other background is Tim Holtz distress inks and Pan Pastel chalks.  Have a great weekend, hugs

celebrating the chevron

Lol, just a variation on yesterdays share, except this is a onsies with rounded corners, fun for just a quick hello, thinking of you, miss you card.
Love the white and brown chevron background, this was done with gesso.  Have a happy Friday, hugs

Celebrate

I cannot remember the last time I purchased patterned paper, it has been a while, but I could not resist when I saw The Paper Studio "Harper's Boutique" pack, it is all black and white patterns and they are so yummy, I used one as my background for this card. All colors for images are Copic markers. I used misc. rub-ons for the word block.
 I know it is still winter, but you could never tell by our weather here, today it will be in the 70s.  Some of the trees are already flowering and my little Mulberry sapling has tiny buds all over it.  My Camellia bush is in bloom and I have several bouquets inside.
Hope everyone traverses into the weekend with happy plans, stay safe, hugs

The Story of the Chevron Bag

 At some point last year I caught the Chevron bug, I sent a friend some gift bags and she loved them and wanted some for her girls, a couple of the bags came with designs on them.   As I was working on this design, I decided I wanted the bag to have a chevron background and remembered seeing some at Hobby Lobby, but when I got there I realized I had not remembered exactly what I thought I had seen.  The chevron was too big and busy and it was on a bag with a white background which would not work for this design.  Then I remembered what I had seen was some SEI paper with chevrons on kraft paper, hmmmmm, note to self, slow down, focus.  One of the things I do when, I cannot find what I want and actually have some time, is just roam the store with my cart, looking and letting my attention drift away from what I want, this usually draws me to a good alternative or  a solution to my dilemma.  I found myself in front of the stencil section and I was just staring, there was a huge wall chevron and there was a tiny chevron but not one that would work and even if I did use a stencil, what would I use for my color?  Walk, walk, walk, I wandered back to the stencil area about 2 times and then I decided to buy the 9"X18" "Show Off" blanks and cut my own stencil.

 Here is the stencil on top of one of the blank kraft bags, this is more a sharing of tips than a tutorial. The stencil blank has a shiny side and a matte side, after cutting I realized that the shiny side has a thin film that comes off, since there is no mention of this on the packaging and very little direction, I will keep cutting with the film attached and remove after the cut.  I designed and cut the stencil with my Silhouette Cameo, my settings were speed:3, depth30 and blade on 6 and I set for a double cut. When weeding the stencil begin at the top left side and gently pull out zigzag on a slight diagonal, go slow, so as not to tear.  I would say this is a light weight stencil blank, just a little heavier than cover acetate. I used "Stencil ease" Stencil Adhesive on the matte side, I was able to do 3 bags before reapplying the adhesive to the stencil, after the second application you can get 4 to 5 bags.  My bag size by the way is 8"X10".  I wanted a subtle chevron and decided that I would try Ranger's "Distress Ink", for this bag I used "Wild Honey"

I found the best way to apply the ink was to begin in the top left corner pulling out about 2" and down, continue across the bag until completed, it takes about 2 or 3mins per bag, once you get the hang of it.  So this will be my new favorite stencil for a while, lol.

Here is the bag with the chevron done with distress ink, because I am doing the card hold border I am only distressing the front of the bag.  I am anxious to try some other paints with these, but will have to wait until I get this project wound up.  The moral of the story is:  If you can't find it, just do it yourself!  Hope everyone has a fab day, hugs